Eighth Egyptian plague. "Plagues of Egypt"

FIRST EXECUTION: WATER TURNS TO BLOOD

Exodus 7:19-25 And Aaron lifted up his rod and struck the water of the river before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his servants, and all the water in the river turned to blood, and the fish in the river died out, and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water from the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. And the Magi of Egypt did the same with their spells. And Pharaoh's heart was hardened...

What was this execution aimed at?

The Nile River was considered one of the deities of Egypt, to which Egypt owed its birth, its existence and prosperity.
“In Ancient Egypt, the Nile, the “great river,” has always been the source of life, the common property of two lands - Upper and Lower Egypt. Herodotus’s saying is widely known: “Egypt is the gift of the Nile.” Many texts emphasize the cosmic nature of the Nile, its underground and heavenly character.

There were ideas according to which the boat of the Sun sails along the celestial Nile during the day. There is also the Nile underground, along which the Sun, having descended beyond the horizon, travels at night. The image of the underground Nile was closely associated with death, with the souls of the dead and their judgment in the afterlife. Addressing God, the Egyptian said: “You created the Nile in the underworld and brought it to earth at your will, in order to prolong the life of people, just as you gave them life by creating them.”

The god Hapi (who was depicted as a corpulent man with vessels in his hands from which water flows) was an image of the Nile flowing on earth. He was revered as “the high Nile, which gives life to the whole country with its nourishment,” as the giver of moisture and harvest. According to legend, the cave from where God watched over the river under his control was located a little south of Aswan, on the island of Biga at the first cataract. The Nile itself was inhabited by good and evil deities in the form of animals: crocodiles, hippos, frogs, scorpions, snakes. Hapi's father was the primeval ocean Nun. The holiday dedicated to Khapi was timed to coincide with the beginning of the Nile flood. On this day, sacrifices were made to him, papyrus scrolls with lists of gifts were thrown into the river.”

Another deity of the Nile, Khnum (who was revered by the Egyptians as a creator god who created man on a potter's wheel) was also considered the guardian of the sources of the Nile and was depicted as a man with the head of a ram with spirally twisted horns. Other deity– Sebek – in Egyptian mythology was considered the god of water and the flood of the Nile. Since his sacred animal was the crocodile, he was most often depicted as a crocodile man or a man with the head of a crocodile.

The Egyptians worshiped not only the Nile and the patron idols of the Nile, but also to some fish that lived in this river.
To shame all these Egyptian deities, the Lord God turned the water of the Nile into blood, and as a result the water became unfit for drinking and irrigating the land, and all the fish died out.

It should be noted that the Egyptian sorcerers were able to repeat this miracle with their witchcraft powers, which contributed to the hardening of the pharaoh’s heart and doubled the severity of this execution.

SECOND EXECUTION: TOADS

Exodus 8:1-14“And the Lord said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord: Let My people go, that they may serve Me; if you do not agree to let go, then behold, I infest your entire region with toads; and the river will swarm with frogs, and they will come out and enter into your house, and into your bedroom, and onto your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls, and onto you and onto the people. yours, and frogs shall come upon all your servants. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand and your rod over the rivers, over the streams, and over the lakes, and bring out frogs in the land of Egypt. Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and frogs came out and covered the land of Egypt.

“In Ancient Egypt with the head of a frog (or zha b) depicted the male primal deities of the Hermopolitan Ogdoad - the great eight primordial deities. The forces of primordial Chaos were opposed by creative forces - four pairs of deities personifying the elements. The male deities of the eight - Huk (Infinity), Nun (Water), Kuk (Darkness) and Amon ("Invisible", that is, Air) - had the appearance of people with the heads of frogs. They corresponded to female deities with snake heads.

Frogs were credited with power over floods Nile, on which the harvest depended. Small frogs appeared in the river several days before it flooded and were therefore considered harbingers of fertility. In addition, in Egypt there was a belief that the frog had the ability of spontaneous generation, so it was associated with the afterlife cult and resurrection after death. It was considered a sacred animal of the ancient Egyptian goddess of fertility Heket - one of the symbols of immortality. [Since her sacred animal is a frog, she was depicted as a frog or a woman with a frog on her head.]. The frog goddess helped women in labor, and in the afterlife - the resurrection of the dead.

The Lord God laughed at superstition Egyptians and over their deities, sending hordes of toads and frogs throughout Egypt. At the word of Moses, frogs came out of the Nile River and filled all the dwellings of the Egyptians.

Sorcerers were also able to imitate this miracle, but since they were unable to rid the country of the plague of frogs, Pharaoh became convinced of God's superiority and even asked Moses and Aaron to pray for him and even promised Moses that he would let the people of Israel go into the wilderness for a while: verse 8 “And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said, “Pray to the Lord that He will remove the frogs from me and from my people, and I will let the people of Israel sacrifice to the Lord.” However, then he became hardened in heart and changed his mind.

THIRD EXECUTION: midges

Exodus 8:15-19 « And Pharaoh saw that he was relieved, and he hardened his heart and did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken. And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your rod and strike the dust of the ground, and the dust will become midges throughout all the land of Egypt. So they did: Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the ground, and midges appeared on people and on cattle. All the dust of the earth became midges throughout the whole land of Egypt. The Magi also tried to produce midges with their spells, but they could not. And there were midges on people and livestock. And the wise men said to Pharaoh: This is the finger of God. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken.”

What were these midges? Theologians' opinions were divided. According to the Septuagint translation (the Greek translation of the Old Testament), at the blow of the rod, many “sknieps” appeared from the ground. This is what is written about this in Psalm 104:31 “He spoke, and various insects came and swarmed throughout all their borders.” In the old days, lice were called lice in Rus'. This was a translation from the original Bible, where the word “kinnim” is used.

The ancient Greek philosophers Philo and Origen believed that these were midges and mosquitoes - a common scourge of Egypt during periods of flooding of the Nile. Other philosophers and researchers (such as Josephus) take a different point of view, understanding the word “kinnim” as lice or fleas. This is exactly how this word is translated from Syriac and Arabic.

In accordance with Lopukhin's Explanatory Bible,“Kinnim, according to the biblical narrative, come out of the dust of the ground, while mosquitoes appear “out of water” regarding mosquitoes it cannot be said that they “appeared on people and on livestock” (verse 17); Finally, in the Talmud the word “kinna” means “louse.” The reading of LXX - “sknifeV” does not contradict this understanding. The use of this expression by the ancient Greek authors - Theophrastus, Aetius, Aristophanes - shows that this term means grass louse, worms, and fleas.”

Anyway, This execution was aimed at shaming the Egyptian deities of earth, sky, air and health, who were unable to protect the people and livestock of Egypt from the invasion of midges.

The sorcerers were unable to reproduce this miracle and admitted their powerlessness, recognizing this execution as the “finger of God.” They stopped competing with Moses, recognized the power of God and therefore began to advise Pharaoh to release the Jews at the word of Moses.

FOURTH PLEASURE: DOG FLIES

Exodus 8:20-32“And the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early tomorrow and appear before Pharaoh. Behold, he will go to the water, and you say to him: Thus says the Lord: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. But if you do not let My people go, then behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and on your houses, and the houses of the Egyptians will be filled with swarms of flies, and the very land where they live; And in that day I will separate the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, and there will be no swarms of flies there, so that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. I will make a division between My people and your people.

Tomorrow there will be this sign. So the Lord did: a multitude of dog flies flew into the house of the Pharaohs, and into the houses of his servants, and into the whole land of Egypt: the land perished from the dog flies. And Pharaoh called Moses and Aaron and said: Go, sacrifice to your God in this land. But Moses said: this cannot be done, for our sacrifice to the Lord our God is disgusting for the Egyptians: if we begin to offer a sacrifice disgusting for the Egyptians in their eyes, will they not stone us? We will go into the desert, a three-day journey, and offer sacrifice to the Lord our God, as He will tell us.

And Pharaoh said: I will let you go to sacrifice to the Lord your God in the desert, but do not go far; pray for me. Moses said: Behold, I will leave you and pray to the Lord, and the flies of the dogs will be removed from Pharaoh, and from his servants, and from his people tomorrow, only let Pharaoh stop deceiving, not letting the people go sacrifice to the Lord. And Moses went out from Pharaoh and prayed to the Lord. And the Lord did according to the word of Moses, and removed the swarming flies from Pharaoh, from his servants, and from his people: not one remained. But Pharaoh hardened his heart this time and did not let the people go.”

Clouds of these flies covered the people and filled the houses of the Egyptians.“According to Philo, the insect that served as the instrument of the fourth plague combined the properties of flies and dogs and was distinguished by its ferocity and persistence. From a distance, like an arrow, it rushed towards a person or animal and, quickly attacking, dug its sting into the body and seemed to stick to it” (Lopukhin’s Explanatory Bible). Most likely, dog flies refer to gadflies, which haunted the Egyptians and their herds of animals.

The main lesson of this plague was that God openly revealed to Pharaoh and all the Egyptians the difference between them and the Jews. Dog flies were everywhere except for the region of Goshen, in which the Jews lived; they were in all the houses except the houses of the Israelites: verses 22-23 “...I will separate in that day the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, and there will be no flies there, so that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. I will make a division between My people and your people.”

FIFTH PECUTION: PLASTER

Exodus 9:1-7 " And the Lord said to Moses, Go to Pharaoh and say to him, Thus says the Lord God of the Hebrews: Let My people go, that they may serve Me; For if you do not want to let go and still hold on to him, then behold, the hand of the Lord will be on your livestock, which is in the field, on horses, on donkeys, on camels, on oxen and sheep: there will be a very serious pestilence; and the Lord will divide between the cattle of Israel and the cattle of Egypt, and of all the cattle of the children of Israel nothing shall die.

And the Lord appointed a time saying: Tomorrow the Lord will do this in this land. And the Lord did this the next day, and all the cattle of Egypt died; and none of the livestock of the children of Israel died. Pharaoh sent to find out, and behold, none of the livestock of Israel died. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not let the people go.”

Pestilence is an animal disease. A big blow to the Egyptian gods. The bull and cow were considered the main deities of the Egyptians and were sacred animals of Egypt. Sacrifices and incense were offered to them. The bull was kept in luxury in many Egyptian temples. After death, such a bull was embalmed and, with a ceremony befitting only a king, buried in a magnificent sarcophagus.

In addition, many Egyptian deities were depicted with the head or body of a calf or cow. Thus, Apis was considered the god of fertility; he was depicted as a bull with a solar disk. Amun, being the patron saint of the city of Thebes, was also the god of air and harvest, the creator of the world; depicted with the head of a man, and sometimes a bull or ram, with a two-pronged crown and a long scepter in his hand. The goddess Isis was often depicted as a woman with cow horns and a sun disk on her forehead, holding a stalk of papyrus in her hand.

Hathor - goddess of love and fate, goddess of the sky; nurse of the pharaohs and ruler of distant countries. She was depicted as a cow or a woman with cow horns, sometimes with only one ears. In general, the Egyptians depicted many of their gods with the heads or bodies of animals. The fifth execution was directed against faith in these gods.

So, The animals of Egypt suffered a pestilence, but among the Israelites not a single animal died: Exodus 9:7 “Pharaoh sent to find out, and behold, none of the livestock of Israel died.” It is worth keeping in mind that the expression “all the livestock of Egypt died out” does not mean that literally all the livestock in Egypt died out. After all, the next sixth plague also affected animals (verses 8-9). The expression “all the cattle of Egypt died out” means all the cattle that were in the fields. It was he who died from the pestilence. Moses warned Pharaoh about this in verse 3, “the hand of the Lord will be on your livestock that is in the field.”

SIXTH PECUTION: BOLDS

Exodus 9:8-12“And the Lord said to Moses and Aaron: Take a handful of ashes from the oven, and let Moses throw them towards heaven in the sight of Pharaoh; and dust will rise throughout all the land of Egypt, and there will be inflammation with boils on people and livestock throughout all the land of Egypt. They took the ashes from the oven and appeared before the Pharaoh. Moses threw it to heaven, and there was inflammation with boils on people and on livestock. And the wise men could not stand before Moses because of the inflammation, because the inflammation was on the wise men and on all the Egyptians. But the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not listen to them, just as the Lord had spoken to Moses.”

Many theologians They think it was something called smallpox. This execution affected both people and animals, and even sorcerers after Moses threw the ashes to heaven at the word of the Lord God.

The order to throw up the ashes taken from the oven is related to one of the ancient religious customs of Egypt. Ashes blown in the wind from sacrifices in honor of the god Set (the god of evil and failure), according to the belief of the Egyptians, averted evil, the evil eye or damage from all those borders where it fell. But now abandoned by Moses the ashes carried to the sky, in denunciation of Egyptian superstition, not prosperity and well-being, but a curse from the God of Israel, and caused abscesses on the bodies of people and livestock.

Besides everything else, the fact that the sorcerers could not protect themselves and the pharaoh from abscesses on the body was evidence of the powerlessness of the Egyptian healing gods led by Isis, who could not prevent the sixth plague sent to Egypt by the God of Israel.

SEVENTH PLEASURE: HAIL

It should be noted that it was not just hail, but very large hail: supposedly the size of an orange. In addition, this hail was accompanied by lightning. Lightning is spoken of as fire in Exodus 9:23-25 “And Moses stretched out his rod toward heaven, and the Lord made thunder and hail, and fire poured out upon the earth; and the Lord sent hail upon the land of Egypt; and there was hail and fire between the hail, very great hail, such as had not been seen in all the land of Egypt since the time of its inhabitants.”

Elsewhere it is directly written, that the hail was accompanied by lightning: Psalm 77:47-49 “...their grapes were beaten with hail, and their sycamores with ice; their cattle were given over to hail, and their flocks to lightning; He sent upon them the flame of His wrath, and indignation, and wrath and disaster, an embassy of evil angels.”

Before the hail started God gave the Egyptians a very merciful warning to gather their flocks and take them to shelter. And then hail fell throughout all of Egypt and destroyed everything: verse 25, “from man to beast, the hail struck down all the grass of the field, and broke down all the trees in the field,” but in the region of Goshen (or Goshen), where the Jews lived, there was no hail .

The amazing thing about this execution was that those of the Egyptians, “who feared the word of the Lord, hastily gathered their servants and their flocks into houses” (verse 20), and thus saved both their slaves and livestock from death. Thereby, The Lord God demonstrated to Pharaoh and all of Egypt that life awaits those who obey God, and death awaits those who resist God.

Besides everything else, This execution was directed against the gods of the sky, air, rain and fertility, whom the Egyptians led by Pharaoh fanatically worshiped, and who were unable to protect their people from this execution. However, Pharaoh hesitated and continued to harden his heart.

EIGHTH PECUTION: LOCUST

The locust punishment was one of the most terrible. The locusts swooped in in large clouds and ate all the greenery that had survived the seventh plague. And at the end of the day, locusts with a stench covered the ground 12 cm thick.

This execution was primarily directed against the gods of the earth, harvest and fertility. Here are just a few of them: Osiris - the god of the vital forces of nature and fertility, the ruler of the underworld; Ptah (Ptah) – god of the fertility of the earth; Apis is a symbol of fertility; Min – god of fertility, producer of harvests; Nehebkau is the god of time, fertility and the giver of food. The Egyptians saw that all these numerous deities were unable to protect their people from the next execution of the God of Israel, as a result of which the entire country was left without a harvest and was practically doomed to a terrible famine.

After this, even Pharaoh's servants convinced of the need to release the Jews: Exodus 10:7 “Then Pharaoh’s servants said to him, “How long will he torment us?” let these people go, let them serve the Lord their God; Don’t you still see that Egypt is perishing?” The sudden appearance and disappearance of plagues on such a vast scale according to the word of Moses served as proof of the power and might of God.

The striking achievement of this execution was the recognition by Pharaoh of his own powerlessness and sinfulness before the God of Israel, as well as the powerlessness of the Egyptian gods to protect their gardens and fields from the invasion of locusts: “ Pharaoh hastily called Moses and Aaron and said, “I have sinned against the Lord your God and against you; Now forgive my sin once again and pray to the Lord your God that He will only turn away this death from me” (Imchod 10:16-17).

NINTH PLEASURE: DENSE DARKNESS

Exodus 10:21-27“And the Lord said to Moses: Stretch out your hand to heaven, and there will be darkness in the land of Egypt, even tangible darkness. Moses stretched out his hand to heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout all the land of Egypt for three days; they did not see each other, and no one rose from his place for three days; And all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings. Pharaoh called Moses and said: go, serve the Lord, let only your flocks and herds remain, and let your children go with you.

But Moses said: give also into our hands sacrifices and burnt offerings to offer to the Lord our God; let our herds go with us, not a hoof will remain; for we will take some of them as a sacrifice to the Lord our God; but until we get there, we do not know what to sacrifice to the Lord. And the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart, and he did not want to let them go.”

Having punished Egypt with darkness, God belittled and laughed at the Egyptian deity Ra, the sun god. Midnight darkness over Egypt lasted three days. And where Israel lived, it was light. “The three-day darkness that enveloped Egypt served as obvious proof of the powerlessness of the supreme god Ra, the sun god, who had now submitted to the will of the Almighty and was unable to give his admirers even a particle of light” (Lopukhin’s Explanatory Bible).

In addition to the supreme god Ra, Other gods of the sun and light were also put to shame, such as: Aten - the god of the sun, was depicted in the form of a solar disk, the rays of which ended in open palms. Horus (Chorus) acted in two forms: as the ruler of the heavens, the king of the gods, the god of the Sun, and also as the earthly king, the pharaoh. He was depicted as a falcon, a man with the head of a falcon, a winged sun. Its symbol is a solar disk with outstretched wings.

Atum is the god of the evening setting sun. Khepri is the god of the morning, rising sun (in contrast to Ra - the daytime and Atum - the evening). Mnevis, a deity in the form of a black bull, was revered as the living embodiment of the sun god and was depicted with a solar disk between his horns.

TENTH PLEASURE: DEATH OF THE FIRST BORN

This was the worst punishment for the Egyptians. But if it were not for this execution, the Jews would have been slaves in Egypt to this day.
The tenth plague was aimed, firstly, at the protector gods of the pharaoh (such as the god Horus and the goddesses Satis, Sikhmet and Uto), as well as the last deity of Egypt - the pharaoh.

“The pharaohs were the “servants of Horus”, the successors of his power over Egypt. Horus protects the king with his wings (on the statue of Pharaoh Khafre, a falcon is depicted on the back of his head, covering his head with its wings). The name of Horus was included as an obligatory component in the five-part title of the pharaoh's tour."

Since ancient times, pharaohs were revered as gods. And many Egyptian gods were considered pharaohs in the past (such as Min and Horus).

But the Lord dispelled the superstition that pharaohs are or become gods. Pharaoh's failure to protect his people and his own family from the death of his firstborn son belied Pharaoh's claim to be a god.

Among other things, the tenth plague, according to many theologians, is the Lord God’s revenge for all the Israelite babies killed in Egypt.

His people, promising that otherwise God would punish Egypt. Pharaoh did not listen, and 10 disasters were brought upon Egypt, and each time after Pharaoh’s new refusal to let the Jews go, another disaster followed:

Punishment by blood
Execution by frogs
Invasion of blood-sucking insects (midges, lice, bedbugs)
Punishment by dog flies
Cattle pestilence
Ulcers and boils
Thunder, lightning and hail fire
Locust invasion
Unusual darkness (Egyptian darkness)
Death of the firstborn

Punishment by blood

“And he lifted up the rod and struck the water of the river before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his servants, and all the water in the river turned to blood, and the fish in the river died out, and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water from the river; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt.”
- Ex.7:20,21

All the water in the Nile and other reservoirs and containers turned into blood, but remained transparent for the Jews (and even that which the Jews had turned into blood if the Egyptians tried to take it away). The Egyptians could only drink the water for which they paid the Jews money.

James Tissot (1836–1902), Public Domain

Then, according to legend, Pharaoh’s sorcerers bought water from the Jews and began to cast magic over it, they managed to turn it into blood, and Pharaoh decided that the punishment of blood was not the Lord’s punishment, but just witchcraft, and did not let the Jews go.

Execution by frogs

“And the Lord said to Moses, Say to Aaron, Stretch out your hand and your staff over the rivers, over the streams, and over the lakes, and bring out the frogs in the land of Egypt. Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt; and frogs came out and covered the land of Egypt.”
-Ex.8:5,6

As was promised to Pharaoh: “They will go out and enter into your house, and into your bedroom, and into your bed, and into the houses of your servants and your people, and into your ovens, and into your kneading bowls” (Ex. 8:3). . Toads filled the entire land of Egypt.

The second plague of Egypt is frogs. Illustration from the Illustrated Biblical Encyclopedia of Archimandrite Nikephoros (1891) G.N. Petrov, Public Domain

The Egyptian sorcerers began to conjure again, and they managed to make the frogs appear even more, but they told the pharaoh that they did not know such witchcraft that would remove the frogs. Then Pharaoh told Moses that he would believe that God was punishing Egypt and would let his people go if God removed all the frogs. After the disappearance of the frogs, the pharaoh decided to renege on his promise.

Infestation of midges

As a third punishment, a horde of midges fell upon Egypt, attacking the Egyptians, clinging to them, getting into their eyes, noses, and ears.

“...Aaron stretched out his hand with his rod and struck the dust of the ground, and midges appeared on people and on livestock. All the dust of the earth became midges throughout the whole land of Egypt. The Magi also tried to produce midges with their spells, but they could not. And there were midges on people and livestock. And the wise men said to Pharaoh: This is the finger of God. But Pharaoh’s heart was hardened, and he did not listen to them, as the Lord had spoken.”
-Ex.8:17-19

This time the sorcerers could not help Pharaoh and said that they did not know such witchcraft, and that this must all really be a punishment from the Lord, and the Jews should be released. However, this time the pharaoh was adamant.

And then God brought down the fourth plague on Egypt:

Punishment by dog flies

“And the Lord said to Moses, “Rise early tomorrow and appear before Pharaoh. Behold, he will go to the water, and you say to him: Thus says the Lord: Let My people go, so that they may serve Me. But if you do not let My people go, then behold, I will send swarms of flies on you, and on your servants, and on your people, and on your houses, and the houses of the Egyptians will be filled with swarms of flies, and the very land where they live; And in that day I will separate the land of Goshen, in which my people dwell, and there will be no swarms of flies there, so that you may know that I am the Lord in the midst of the land. I will make a division between My people and your people. Tomorrow there will be this sign. And so the Lord did: a multitude of dog flies flew into the house of the Pharaohs, and into the houses of his servants, and into all the land of Egypt: the land perished from the dog flies.”
-Ex.8:20-25

Clouds of these flies covered the people and filled the houses of the Egyptians. “According to Philo, the insect that served as the instrument of the fourth plague combined the properties of flies and dogs and was distinguished by its ferocity and persistence. From a distance, like an arrow, it rushed towards a person or animal and, quickly attacking, dug its sting into the body and seemed to stick to it” (Lopukhin’s Explanatory Bible). Most likely, dog flies refer to gadflies, which haunted the Egyptians and their herds of animals.

This division between the two peoples and their areas of residence in Egypt showed Pharaoh that the God of Israel was the Lord who sent the Egyptian plagues, and that He was the God over Egypt, surpassing in strength and power all the Egyptian deities and idols. Then Pharaoh called Moses to him and again promised to release the Jews, and after the disappearance of the wild animals, he again broke his promise.

And the fifth plague befell Egypt:

Doré (1832–1883), Public Domain

Cattle pestilence

All the Egyptians' cattle in the field died out; only the Jews were not affected by the attack. And then Pharaoh realized that God cared about the Jews, but he became stubborn and still did not let the Jews go (Ex. 9: 3-7).

Ulcers and boils

After this, the Lord commanded Moses and Aaron to take a handful of furnace soot and throw it high up in front of Pharaoh. This they did, and the bodies of the Egyptians and animals were covered with their terrible sores and boils.

And Pharaoh was afraid that for the rest of his life he would suffer and itch because of ulcers and boils and decided to let the Jews go. But God strengthened his heart and gave him courage to act in accordance with his convictions, for he wanted Pharaoh to let the Jews go not out of fear, but out of the realization that no earthly king could argue with God. And again Pharaoh did not let the Jews go (Exod. 9:8-11).

Then God struck Egypt for the seventh time:

Thunder, lightning and hail fire

A storm began, thunder roared, lightning flashed, and a hail of fire fell on Egypt.

“And the Lord caused thunder and hail, and fire spread across the earth; and the Lord sent hail upon the land of Egypt; and there was hail and fire between the hail, very great, such as had not been seen in all the land of Egypt since the time of its inhabitants. And the hail destroyed all the land of Egypt, everything that was in the field, from man to beast, and the hail destroyed all the grass of the field, and broke down all the trees in the field.”
-Ex.9:23-25

The Egyptians saw that there was a flame burning in each hailstone and were horrified, because they realized that this was the wrath of the One who could change the nature of things.

John Martin (1789–1854), Public Domain

Pharaoh then bowed to Moses and Aaron and asked them to pray to God so that the hail would stop, promising that he would release the Jews. Moses prayed to God, and the hail stopped. But again the pharaoh did not keep his promise.

And the eighth plague befell Egypt:

Locust invasion

A strong wind blew, and behind the wind hordes of locusts flew into Egypt, devouring all the greenery down to the last blade of grass on the land of Egypt.
And again Pharaoh asked Moses to beg for mercy from God, and again promised to release the Jews. Moses called to God, and the wind blew in the other direction, and it carried away all the locusts. But again God strengthened Pharaoh’s heart, and again he did not let the children of Israel go.
And the ninth plague began: Ex.10, 13-15

Unusual darkness

“Moses stretched out his hand to heaven, and there was thick darkness throughout all the land of Egypt for three days; they did not see each other, and no one rose from his place for three days; And all the children of Israel had light in their dwellings."
-Ex.10:22-23

The darkness that fell on Egypt was unusual, it was thick and dense, so that you could even touch it; and candles and torches could not dispel the darkness. Only the Jews had light, but the Egyptians were forced to move by touch. However, soon the darkness began to thicken, hindering the movements of the Egyptians, and now they could not even move.

And Pharaoh called Moses and told him that he was releasing the Jews, only they must leave their livestock. However, Moses told Pharaoh that the Jews would not abandon their livestock. Then Pharaoh ordered Moses to leave and not come again, promising that if he came, he would be executed. And then Moses said that he would not come again, but that Egypt would suffer a punishment more terrible than all the previous ones combined, for all the firstborn sons would perish in Egypt.

Doré (1832–1883), Public Domain

Execution of the firstborn

And the punishment promised by Moses did not escape Egypt, and the widespread death of the firstborn followed at midnight.

“At midnight the Lord struck down all the firstborn in the land of Egypt, from the firstborn of Pharaoh who sat on his throne to the firstborn of the prisoner who was in prison, and all the firstborn of the livestock.”
-Ex.12:29

After all the firstborn children in Egypt (except for the Jewish ones) died in one night, Pharaoh gave in and allowed the Jews to leave Egypt, and thus began the Exodus.

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Helpful information

Ten Plagues of Egypt

Historicity of the plot

Criticism

The history of Egypt, documented in sufficient detail by numerous hieroglyphic texts, does not mention either the “plagues of Egypt” in the form as they are described in the Bible, or any other events that could be associated with these plagues. Although there were many tragic events in the history of Ancient Egypt (for example, the Hyksos invasion and uprisings that led the country into complete chaos), none of these events can be directly compared with the description of the “plagues of Egypt.”

Moreover, it is not known under which pharaoh or even during which dynasty the exodus of the Jews from Egypt took place. If the Egyptian executions took place, then in all likelihood this event was local and so insignificant that it did not arouse interest among Egyptian society and was not reflected in any written monuments other than the Bible.

There are also inconsistencies in the description: for example, if the fifth plague destroyed all Egyptian cattle, then it is unknown which cattle’s first birth was destroyed during the tenth (Ex. 11:5), as well as what animals were drawn by the six hundred chariots that were part of the army Pharaoh, who began to persecute the Jews (14:7) (at the sea, the cattle in the field were destroyed, although “field” can be a country according to the original text, at the same time, the word “all” is not in the original text).

Reply to criticism

However, the absence of written evidence about the ten plagues of Egypt is often explained by the fact that, as stated in the Ipuwer papyrus, all the scribes of Egypt were killed, and their records were scattered to the wind. Some researchers believe that the events of the Egyptian plagues were so fresh in the memory of the Egyptians that they did not consider it necessary to write down their history and make public the humiliation of the Egyptian people and the Jews’ withdrawal from subordination to the pharaoh.

It should also be taken into account that Egypt was constantly balancing on the brink of civil war with the Hyksos. As described in the Bible, after the death of the pharaoh, the new pharaoh forced the Jews to build a new capital, Raamses, a couple of kilometers from the capital of Avaris, which had long been ruled by the Hyksos. Moses, who killed the overseer, apparently worked at this construction site (for, upon returning, he began the Exodus of the Jews precisely from Rameses). Considering that 600 thousand Jewish men left - three times more than the population of Avaris at that time - we can assume that these were the “Asians” whom the pharaoh pursued and who are described in the Ipuver papyrus (which also mentions the “reddened sea”, “poisoned water”) " and "pestilence").

Some researchers refer to the Ipuwer papyrus, finding in it many coincidences with the events described in the Bible. On this basis, it is concluded that the “Egyptian executions” may have occurred during the reign of Pharaoh Ramesses II and his son Merneptah.

Scientific research

Attempts are being made to scientifically substantiate the 10 Plagues of Egypt. A group of European scientists with the director of the New York Department of Health (English)Russian. epidemiologist John Marr (German) Russian. scientifically substantiated and linked into a logical sequence the “10 Plagues of Egypt”, in particular:

The reddening of the water is the well-known phenomenon of “red tides,” a bloom of Physteria algae that releases toxins and consumes oxygen, causing fish deaths and exodus of toads. (According to amphibiologist Dr. Richard Wasasiuk, the word used in the Bible can mean any species of tailless amphibian; according to him, it was a species of toad "bufo"; each toad lays a million eggs, which the dead fish stopped eating, causing the toad population to explode. )
Dying toads and rotting fish cause the arrival of flies that carry the infection; the fly was accurately identified by its characteristics as culicoides (English) Russian. (In ancient times there was no classification of flies, so scientists involved the director of the Mississippi Museum of Entomology Richard Brown, Andrew Shpilman, in the study and USDA Director of Animal Disease Research Roger Breese.)
The infectious midge causes subsequent executions - death of livestock and ulcers, identified as signs of glanders infection, transmitted by flies over a distance of 1.5 km.
Thunder, lightning and hail of fire - hints at the volcanic theory. The Bible directly describes the column of smoke and fire in the distance, to which Moses led the Jews for 11 days, debris falling from the sky, the mountain shaking underfoot. (Ex.9:23-25, Ex.13:21-22, Ex.19:18, Ex.24:15-16, Deut.1:33)
3 days without the Sun is a sandstorm that lasted not the usual 1-2 days, but 3 days. The cause of the prolonged storm could be the destruction of crops and flora by locusts (the winds were not restrained by leaves) or a possible volcanic eruption that caused climatic anomalies and a volcanic winter.
The death of the firstborns is explained by the toxins of the fungus Stachybotrys atra (English) Russian, which multiplied only in the upper layer of grain reserves, got there from water or locust excrement, and its fermentation into a very strong poison - mycotoxin. Infection could have been the result of a combination of a number of cultural factors: According to Egyptian tradition, the eldest sons ate first in the family, receiving a double portion; Cattle eat the same way - the strongest, oldest animal makes its way to the feeder first. The firstborns were the first to be poisoned, receiving a double portion from the upper contaminated grain reserves. The Jews did not suffer from this execution, because they settled far from large Egyptian cities and had independent food supplies. In addition, they were shepherds, not farmers, and a significant proportion of their diet was not grain, like the Egyptians, but meat and milk.

The volcanic theory of Exodus is substantiated, that Executions are phenomena accompanying the explosion of volcanoes (in particular, redness of water).

Executions in culture and art

Music

The story of the Exodus formed the basis of the first part of G. F. Handel’s oratorio “Israel in Egypt” (Exodus).
Metallica wrote a song called "Creeping Death" that directly references some of the executions.
The group Akroma completely devoted the album Seth, released in 2009, to a description of the ten Egyptian plagues.
The Israeli band Amaseffer dedicated their 2008 album Exodus - Slaves For Life to the entire Exodus of the Jews.
Louis Armstrong's song "Go Down Moses" mentions the threat of death to firstborn children.

Cinema

Harvest - the plot of the film is based on the local manifestation of the 10 Egyptian plagues in a small American town, the entire population of which is a Satanist sect.
The Prince of Egypt is a cartoon adaptation of the events of the Exodus.
The Mummy (USA, 1999). The plot of the film: gold miners in search of the treasures of the pharaoh disturbed the centuries-old peace of the tomb, and the mummy rises from the grave, bringing with it 10 disasters of Egypt.
Lie to me (“Theory of Lies”) season 2, episode 19, mentions 10 Egyptian executions by Lightman, after phone calls from a maniac
Supernatural (TV series) (Supernatural) season 6 episode 3, Egyptian executions were carried out on negligent police officers by a little boy, as well as on the messenger Raphael by Balthazar using the staff of Moses.
The Creation of the World is a film adaptation of the Old Testament.
Haven (Haven) season 2 episode 1, Egyptian executions fall on the town.
The Ten Commandments (film)

The Ten Plagues of Egypt, also called the Ten Plagues of the Bible, are ten plagues that, according to the biblical book, the Lord sent to Egypt to convince Pharaoh to release the Jews from slavery. The pharaoh surrendered after the tenth plague, which led to.

While proponents of biblical archeology claim that the story of the 10 plagues of Egypt is true, many historians consider them to be allegorical descriptions of natural disasters or political conflicts. For this reason, we will consider the biblical interpretation of the Egyptian plagues, as well as a different point of view on these events.

Biblical archaeologists who interpret the Egyptian plagues as a fact rely on the following archaeological finds:

Found by William F. Albright at El Arish, a water vessel with hieroglyphic characters describing the period of darkness;
The Egyptian Ipuwer Papyrus describing a number of disasters that befell Egypt, including the turning of river water into blood.

The Egyptian plagues are a contrast between the power of the God of Israel and the powers of the Egyptian gods. It is known that Egypt at that time was a polytheistic society where faith in many deities reigned. The Egyptian pantheon was numerous and had a very complex hierarchy. The pharaohs of Egypt also played an important role in the religion. They were intermediaries between people and gods, as well as high priests. The Egyptian Pharaohs were revered on a par with the gods, so Pharaoh was surprised at the persistence and audacity of Moses’ request to let his people go. Moses conveyed God's command:

Thus says the Lord God of Israel: Let My people go, that they may celebrate a feast for Me in the wilderness.

But Pharaoh said:

Thus, the pharaoh and the Egyptian pantheon had a “rival” - the God of Israel. In this confrontation, God often repeats the phrase:

And you will know that I am the Lord your God

The Lord wanted to show his people his power: the Lord of a small nation is able to resist the entire pantheon of Egypt - the superpower of that time.

The biblical story of the Ten Plagues of Egypt is important in terms of strengthening religion. If the God of Israel can triumph over the gods of Egypt, then God's people will be strengthened in their faith and will not be tempted to follow false pagan deities. Ten Plagues of Egypt caused enormous damage to the Egyptians, but did not affect the children of Israel.

It is believed that each execution was supposed to show the superiority of the one God over certain gods of the Egyptian pantheon.

Egyptian execution	Gods of the Egyptian pantheon
Water turns to blood	· Hapi/Apis - god of the Nile; · Isis - goddess of the Nile; · Knum - guardian of the Nile; · Sebek – god of rivers and lakes
Invasion of toads	· Heket - toad-headed goddess
Midges	Set - god of the desert
Dog flies	· Whatshit - a god represented in the form of a fly
Livestock death	· Khasor – goddess with the head of a cow; · Apis – bull god; · Khnum – ram-headed god
Ulcers	· Sekmet - goddess of healing; · Sunu - god of epidemics; · Isis - goddess who heals diseases
hail	· Nut – goddess of the sky; · Osiris – god of the harvest; Set - god of storms
Locust invasion	· Osiris - god of the harvest; · Apis - god of fertility · Sokar – god of vegetation
Dark	· Ra – the supreme god of the sun; · Aten – one of the sun gods; · Horus – one of the sun gods; · Nut – goddess of the sky; · Khasor – goddess of the sky; Bast – goddess of sunlight
Death of the firstborn	· Min - god of procreation; · Heket - goddess who visits during childbirth; Isis is the goddess who protects children; · Bes is the patron saint of the family among common people; · Meskhent – goddess of childbirth and children; · Nekhbet – patroness of the children of the pharaoh; Renenet – goddess, patroness of children

Each of the 10 plagues of Egypt affected a different aspect of the Egyptian religious belief system. The culmination was the death of the successor god - the firstborn son of Pharaoh. Ten Egyptian plagues followed one after another until Pharaoh decided to release the people of Israel.

Egyptian plagues are the essence.

We will look at the biblical interpretation of the 10 plagues of Egypt, and also give the opinion of historians about the possible causes of these events.

Turning water into blood

And Moses and Aaron did as the Lord commanded [them]. And [Aaron] lifted up [his] rod and struck the water of the river before the eyes of Pharaoh and before the eyes of his servants, and all the water in the river turned to blood, and the fish in the river died out, and the river stank, and the Egyptians could not drink the water from the river. ; and there was blood throughout all the land of Egypt. (Exodus 7:20-21)

According to the Bible, the waters of the Nile turned to blood. All streams turned into blood, and even the water in the vessels turned into blood. The Egyptian magicians were able to repeat the transformation of water into blood, and the Egyptians began to dig around the rivers, looking for drinkable water. Pharaoh only became angry after the first execution and did not agree to let the people of Israel go.

Turning water into blood- a common motif in the Bible. God even earlier invites Moses to turn water into blood as proof of the power of the Lord:

... if they do not believe these two signs and do not listen to your voice, then take water from the river and pour it onto dry land; and the water taken from the river shall become blood on the dry land (Exodus 4:9)

Historical version.

Probably about 3,000 years ago, some climate changes occurred in the area of the city of Pi-Ramses, which at that time was the capital of Egypt, which may have been the causes of the events described in the Bible as the plagues of Egypt.

Rising temperatures and drought have led to the shallowing of the Nile, which has turned into a shallow, dirty stream in which the number of toxic bacteria Oscillatoria rubescens has sharply increased. As they die and decay, Oscillatoria rubescens turns the water red.

Invasion of toads

After seven days had passed after the first execution, God ordered Moses to have his brother Aaron stretch out his hand with a rod over the rivers and streams and bring out the frogs from the water.

Aaron stretched out his hand over the waters of Egypt [and brought out frogs]; and frogs came out and covered the land of Egypt. (Exodus 8:6)

The Egyptian magicians managed to repeat this miracle. Pharaoh asked Moses to pray to God to remove frogs from the land and dwellings, promising to release the people of Israel. Moses prayed to God and he removed the frogs, however, Pharaoh did not keep his word and became even more angry.

Historical version

A large number of toxic bacteria Oscillatoria rubescens not only turned the waters of the crushed Nile red, but also led to an invasion of frogs. The fact is that in an unfavorable situation, unlike many other species, the development of frogs from tadpoles is accelerated.